Mount Kenya Trust Annual Report 2020

ANNUAL REPORT

2020

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Mount Kenya is our home. Reflecting on the snow speckled peaks every day, the sense of community and care for the region is unmistakable in everyone that talks about and lives around the slopes.

To some it is a physical peak that can be climbed and hiked, to others it brings the lifegiving rain that provides water for crops and livelihoods, and for others it is a spiritual highland that grounds their faith.

As we look back on an unprecedented year of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, every morning the mountain holds steadfast, peering down through the clouds that roll by.

It is both calming and humbling to be so close to such an iconic peak which gives a sense of wellbeing and peace during chaos and confusion.

With the exception of education, nearly all of our projects were able to keep going, albeit with social distancing and a more careful process. Tree planting, ranger teams and the community health project were essential as times got hard for many communities that faced loss of incomes through the lockdowns.

We were proud to have kept all of our staff employed and working through such difficult times.

I am grateful for the work that has been put in by the team to keep as many projects running as possible. We thank our donors, partners and supporters who have stuck with us through hardships of their own and helped to keep our mountain conservation on its feet.

The Trust is moving from strength to strength with a tight and growing team of highly capable and motivated individuals. Our projects are built from the ground up and we recognize the hard work of all our staff and partners who support us.

Thank you and enjoy the Annual Report!

Susie Weeks Executive Director

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2020 Impact by the Numbers RANGER PATROLS:

CONFISCATED & REMOVED:

37 2,308 731 93

5,484

number of rangers employed

foot patrols

vehicle patrols

horse patrols

33,152kms

domestic animals - cows, sheep, donkeys, goats

641 677 21ha snares

logging

cannabis

hours on patrol – 18,011 night patrols – 58 camping patrols – 162

charcoal kilns – 210 charcoal bags – 488 fence posts – 1262 firewood bundles – 675 timber pieces – 346 planks – 114 stumps – 240

ARRESTS MADE:

TREE PLANTING:

55 30

221,342 4 25 500,000+ 9 230,000kms

distance travelled

poaching & logging

animal carcasses found

trees planted

tree mobilisers

tree nurseries HEALTH CARE:

33

health mobilisers employed no. of outreaches – 72 COVID-19:

no. of pax educated for Covid-19 – 38,254 4

trees in stock

rain water harvesting projects

fence lines cleared

Vision

The integrity of the Mount Kenya ecosystem for the welfare of all who depend on it.

Mission

To drive collaborative action for the sustainable management of Mount Kenya’s biodiversity and natural resources, through partnership with government, communities and civil society.

Values

Trust, integrity, partnership, dedication and teamwork.

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Mount Kenya Trust (MKT) have planted over 1.5 million indigenous tree seedlings in various plots within Mount Kenya including, Karuri, Marania, Ontulili, Lower Imenti, Upper Imenti, Ruthumbi, Kanyongo, Mucheene, Nyambene and Thambana.

THE BENEFITS OF REFORESTING MOUNT KENYA INCLUDE: 1. Most of Kenya’s forests are in mountainous areas, known as water towers, as they form the upper catchment of all but one of the main rivers. They provide invaluable services to Kenya’s inhabitants, economy and wildlife and also support transboundary water bodies, underlining their regional and international importance.

2. Environmental stability and secured provision of ecological goods and services. These cross cut the Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2030 – Kenya’s development blueprint aiming to make the country a newly industrialising middle-income nation and provide a high quality of life for all citizens in a secure and healthy environment.

3. The forests boast rich biodiversity levels including high megafauna populations, mammal species of international conservation importance and endemic bird and plant species. The estimated population of elephants in the key protected forest areas is approximately 2,500 for Mount Kenya and 3,500 for the Aberdare range (Vanleeuwee, 2017), hosting the second densest elephant populations in the country.

4. Income to local communities that are involved in tree planting for example, collecting seeds, growing seedlings in nurseries, clearing weeds, digging holes and planting seedlings. Community members are employed to monitor the sites for illegal activities and to ensure the seedlings are protected. Spot weeding is carried out twice a year (for up to three years) which provides further employment.

FOREST 6

THREATS TO THE MOUNTAIN INCLUDE: Illegal Logging. Since the early 1970s, the indigenous forests have been heavily exploited through selective logging of important timber trees thus greatly reducing plant populations and regenerative capacity of these tree species. Some of the most targeted tree species are Cedar (Juniperus procera), Wild Olive (Olea europaea), East Africana Rosewood (Hagenia abyssinica), Camphor (Ocotea usambarensis), Black Ironwood (Olea capensis) and Meru Oak (Vitex Keniensis). According to one study, and despite best efforts, overall logging multiplied by 350 percent since 2016 and charcoal production by 74 percent.

This has increased in the southeast and around the tree plantations (mostly around the northwest), not dissimilar to the situation found in 1999. Much of this is related to the lack of management and supervision in the Plantation Establishment Livelihood Improvement Schemes. In 2016, the illegal logging was concentrated in the Imenti forest in the northeast and Thego in the southeast. However, in 2020, logging more than tripled and has increased up in the southeast and around tree plantations in the northwest.

Charcoal Production. Illegal charcoal production is one of the major threats to forest’s ecological integrity and health. This practice is prevalent in the lower elevations of the forest ecosystem. The highest concentrations of charcoal production sites occur in Thegu, Imenti, Burguret (Gathiuru), Naro Moru, Ragati and Chehe areas.

Illegal grazing. During prolonged dry spells, the ecosystem has experienced an influx of livestock from the neighbouring pastoral communities thereby over stretching the available resources. The large numbers of livestock and associated overgrazing have contributed to the degradation of the ecosystem.

Forest Fires. Unplanned or wildfires can alter structural and species diversity including proliferation of invasive species. Wildfires have been recurring annually from 1990 to date. The fire prone areas stretch in an arc across the lower western forests to the northeastern moorlands in Gathiuru, Nanyuki, Ontulili, Marania, Mucheene and Meru forest stations. Most wildfires are caused by arson and honey gathering; other important causes are lightning, illegal grazing, shamba clearing, poorly disposed cigarette stubs and charcoal burning.

The Imenti Forest Reserve is situated in the north-east in Meru County. MKT has been working in Lower Imenti since 2017 and we have planted over half a million trees in the area.

Upper Imenti and Lower Imenti were designated as protected areas chiefly because of their value as wet-season elephant habitat. However, in the late 20th century the sites suffered from excessive habitat degradation and encroachment (Gathaara et al. 1999).

Today they are surrounded by a ‘hard edge’ of smallscale farmland and other human settlements an also suffers from a large boundary to land area ratio. These factors, coupled with a history of poor community relations have seen the area become a hotspot of deforestation, human elephant conflict and associated poaching incidents. The area is now overrun by the invasive, exotic Lantana camara bush that prevents indigenous tree regrowth. This plant is thick and must be removed before seedlings can be planted.

How do communities benefit?

TREE SEEDLINGS The majority of the seedling stock for both methods will be obtained from women’s or self-help community tree nurseries. This will provide further income to the community. These groups organise micro-financing for local livelihood development projects. Members have, in the past, set up shops, developed their livestock herds through the purchase of pedigree animals, supported their children’s education and purchased a chaff cutter. MKT also has their own tree nursery, where they germinate indigenous seeds to make up any shortfall.

EMPLOYMENT The main social group that will benefit are directly the Community Forest Associations that border the Mount Kenya National Reserve. The project brings welfare benefits to the local community for labour employment (clearing weeds, digging holes, planting trees and spot weeding). MKT also employs one community member per site to monitor and protect the seedlings, in collaboration with KFS. INCOME Women’s nursery groups receive payment for tree seedling purchase and seed collection. These groups are organised into microfinance groups known as ‘table banking’. Individuals have been able to better their lives and families through this project. One group helped individuals to set up a shop, buy a pedigree cow and purchase a chaff cutter. This also supports others by loaning out to the members.

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With our support, the KWS teams can cover a wider geographical area.

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n 2016, the elephant population in the mountain region was estimated at approximately 13,000 elephants of Kenya’s total population of around 30,000 elephants (Thouless et al., 2016). The Aberdares and Mount Kenya house the most and they flank Kenya’s most densely populated rural areas, with mostly small-scale farmers and some large-scale horticulture and vegetable farms.

Human density drops off steeply with distance from the mountains.

The operation teams are mandated with daily patrols.

Some of their work includes identifying illegal activities such as hunting, poaching, logging, de-snaring, problem animal control and fighting arson/wildfires. The teams report and remove illegally grazing livestock and bomas in the Reserve and operate joint patrols with both KWS and KFS. Camping patrols are becoming more frequent and proving vital to both MKT and KWS where vehicle mobility is a problem in many of the areas. With our support, the KWS teams can cover a wider geographical area. The HPT are used in patrols around Marania forest, above Embori and all the way to Solo Camp on the moorlands.

Other than patrols, the teams are also involved with other conservation tasks including tree planting in MKT rehabilitation plots and education.

All our patrols are conducted using the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool. This is a law enforcement programme and a suite of best practice interventions aimed at both managers and rangers to better monitor, evaluate and adaptively manage patrolling activities.

It uses the power of information andthe importance of accountability to direct resources to the places they are needed the most. Recently the Garmin InReach units have been added to our patrols as this helps us locate teams during patrols as we do not have radios. The units mean the teams to send emergency SMS messages and allow us to get an live, accurate location.

Currently we are working with Vulcan Inc. in adapting Earth Ranger for visualizing the patrol findings on a dayto-day basis.

WILDLIFE MKT has four patrol teams composed of at least six personnel, with a total of nearly 40 rangers in the field.

Our operation teams are distributed in sectors within Mount Kenya and include the Marania Wildlife Guards (MWG) based at Mucheene forest, the Imenti Patrol Team (IPT) based in Kithoka Upper Imenti forest, the Horse Patrol Team (HPT) based in Kisima Farm, the Joint Wildlife Protection Team (JWPT) based in Ruthumbi forest and the Ragati Patrol Team (RPT) based at Ragati Conservancy.

Two of the four teams have a vehicle full time - IPT at Kithoka team and JWPT at Ruthumbi, while MWG at Mucheene and HPT at Kisima are supported by a vehicle which is based centrally at Kisima in the Kamiti section of the elephant corridor. This vehicle also supports the corridor fencers.

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ELEPHANT CORRIDOR

ONE-WAY GATES (IMENTI FOREST)

Our ground-breaking Mount Kenya Elephant Corridor reconnects a 14 kilometre elephant migration route between the mountain and the Samburu lowlands, dramatically reducing human elephant conflict. Our fence maintenance team are based over four sections including the upper in Marania Farm, the middle in Kamiti all within Kisima Farm and the lower section which is at the boundary with Ngare Ndare and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

There are ambitious plans for a corridor between Mount Kenya and the Aberdares – the project would boost livelihoods, reduce HWC and reduce genetic bottlenecks for many species. At present there is no funding in the pipeline. This would be a landmark project worthy of international recognition that may even increase the size of the World Heritage Site to connect landscapes.

Elephant gates have been installed to ensure that elephants can safely re-enter the forest when migrating back to Imenti Forest but cannot get out again except via the secure Northern Mount Kenya corridor. This reduces crop raiding and human-elephant conflict.

FENCING AND GATES With the help of local communities and the KWS, we have built solar-powered electric fences along the western side of the mountain to protect farms from wildlife. Many of these fences are now being upgraded to ten strand fence line with the progress of the Mount Kenya Fence Project.

Three fencers are based near the KWS HQ who maintain the original Naro Moru fence that is repaired due to animal, weather and human damage, under the direction of KWS. A number of temporary internal fences in Imenti Forest are in place to protect new or relatively new tree planting areas from elephant damage. These fences are removed after the trees reach a certain maturity.

Despite our hardest work, a report released in 2020 outlined the following threats to wildlife on Mount Kenya: Livestock grazing incidents increased by 75 percent between 2016 and 2020. Livestock can be extremely destructive to local biodiversity, in particular goats and cows, that graze the younger shoots. Livestock grazers are also a fire risk during drier times. Such large numbers may be detrimental to forest regeneration as well as increasing pressure on wildlife range.

Ivory and bushmeat poaching. Wildlife poaching signs have not increased since 2016 but have become more widely spread with visible overlap with the spread of logging in the southeast.

Habitat encroachment and connectivity including the Forest Plantation and shamba system. Habitat destruction by people negatively affects wildlife carrying capacities and increases human wildlife conflict. This includes crop raiding elephants and also the presence of maize in the middle of elephant territory. This will predictably lead to conflict and fencing leads to further fragmentation of wildlife habitats. The reestablishment of habitat connectivity using corridors as the long-term strategy.

Indigenous tree planting of all cleared sites is key to increase habitat for wildlife.

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WATER Water abstraction is not adapted to availability and a frighteningly high percentage of Mount Kenya’s river water is taken before it reaches the National Reserve’s lower boundary.

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ore than four million Kenyans live in the six counties ringing Mount Kenya – Meru, Laikipia, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, and Tharaka – and most congregate on the mountain’s fertile slopes where rainfall is highest.

Millions of people in Nairobi, around the Tana River Delta, across northeastern Kenya, and even as far away as the Somali border, rely on water from rain that originally fell on Mount Kenya. The water towers play a critical role for all of Kenya collecting and storing rainfall and water, feeding the country’s largest river, the Tana, which through hydropower generates around 39 percent of Kenya’s electricity (2015). Kenya’s third longest river, the Ewaso Nyiro, runs from two main tributaries that start at Nyandarua and on Mount Kenya and continues through Laikipia then feeds a huge area of arid northern Kenya before dispersing into the desert.

Until the 1990’s the Ewaso Nyiro River rarely ran dry but from the year 2000 onwards, drying up during dry seasons became more common and has since become a normal occurrence.

Although climate change exacerbates drought spells, the rapid change described above is foremost linked to increased abuse of water at the source (Mt. Kenya and Aberdares).

Community water projects catering for the small-scale farms, as well as large scale farms around the mountains have multiplied in the past two decades, as one would expect, but so too has storage of water by larger farms. The abstraction of water higher up on the mountain is of greater concern. Water abstraction is not adapted to availability and a frighteningly high percentage of Mount Kenya’s river water is taken before it reaches the National Reserve’s lower boundary. The problem of over-extraction is vast, complex and politically sensitive due to the large number of livelihoods depending on the current water

regime, albeit unsustainable. Water pipes and pumps have been found as high as 4,000 metres on Mount Kenya’s moorlands. Removing water dries up the moorlands that acts as a giant sponge for rainfall and a slow release of water throughout the year. Over abstraction of water at the source results in total absence of water downstream, forcing both wildlife and pastoralists into the more fertile and higher lands, compounding the problem.

There is a lack of empowerment of the Water Resource Users Association’s in charge of control of water offtake and riverbank protection and there is a lack of water storage. Many farms cultivate right up to the river, causing erosion and silting and thus compromising the role of the riverbanks to store water during the wet season and slowly release it during the dry seasons.

Land degradation and river water shortage away from the area are one of many drivers for pastoralists with many thousands of livestock to move towards the mountain, affecting carrying capacity and competing directly with wildlife. Both Mount Kenya and the Aberdares have shown to sustain their elephant populations for as long as there are records but this is threatened by livestock invasions.

Water shortages, mismanagement of riverbanks and mismanagement of pastoralist land strongly exacerbate land degradation and conflict.

CASE STUDY: Working alongside the Wildlife Conservation Society, MKT has started tracing the activities along rivers feeding off the mountain. In 2020, the MKT used funds to conduct a Phase 1 pilot survey to establish the state and the use of riparian lands by wildlife, livestock and people has been assessed for rivers feeding the Ewaso River.

Two sets of surveys on each of four rivers selected by the water stakeholder group. Four rivers were selected for the two survey types. They are the Timau, Teleswani, Sirimon and Ontulili Rivers.

Looking at the rivers mainly as elephant corridors, the main results of the survey show that elephant signs are only found along the Timau River that joins the Nanyuki River at around 15km from the mountain, until it joins the Ewaso where the survey ends.

Results also show that once leaving Mount Kenya, there are no elephant signs until reaching the ‘elephant friendly’ ranches along the Timau and Nanyuki Northern banks. In between, there is quite a long stretch of river (around 15 kilometres) flanked by farms that do not tolerate elephants and where HEC is most common. The survey helps us spatially focus HEC (mostly over water) mitigation on those areas.

MKT is looking at restoring the Timau/Nanyuki River banks to boost river flow of the Ewaso Ngiro and help restore water access for pastoralists during the dry season (thus hopefully reducing the influx of them towards the mountains in the dry seasons).

Three major issues are identified for which proposed objectives and activities are outlined in short, medium and longer term: i. Improve water quality and flow affected by illegal charcoal production and logging, excessive water offtake and pollution; ii. Minimize soil erosion and maximize soil water retention within the riparian lands agriculture zone; iii. Manage livestock watering points and crossings and promote riparian lands as wildlife corridors.

The project started in 2020 with a baseline riparian land survey of several arteries feeding the Northern Rangelands main Ewaso N’giro River and will continue over the next four years.

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COMMUNITY I n 2019, Kenya’s human population was estimated at over 47.5million people with a growth rate of 2.2 percent (KNBS, 2019). There are very high population densities established around the fertile mountainous and forest areas in Kenya. Combined with poverty and subsistence living, natural resources are used to survive.

With greater demand for firewood, timber, grazing and charcoal, increased pressure is put on the forest landscape.

In previous years, we have reached hundreds of schools with the KWS Community outreach officers to supply books, educational materials, show educational films and hold question and answer sessions. Although this year we have not been able to offer direct education in schools, MKT have developed a Junior Ranger programme that we will roll out as soon as it is appropriate to do so.

We are very excited about this new project format. The course involves badges that children can earn per topic completed. The topics include:

1. Ecosystems Web of Life - to understand how all living things are connected from webs, ecosystems, humans; 2. Humans & Natural Resources - to know the rights and wrongs of how to behave around wildlife in a protected area; 3. Conservation Action Conservationist - to undertake conservation action relevant to you or your school e.g. set up school garden, organise litter pick, plant some trees or stage a show; 4. Ranger skills Rangers Ally - to understanding role of rangers and why they protect nature, how you can help them;

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5. Wildlife Tracker - to recognise animal footprints, scat and signs; 6. Animal lover - to identifying animals, their behaviour and habitat; 7. Water - to understand and appreciate water and aquatic life; 8. Trees and plants - to identify plants and trees, their needs, habitats, uses and care; 9. Bird Watcher - to recognise birds, birdsong, knowledge of birds and habitats and 10. Minibeast - to recognise insects, creepy crawlies and their needs and habitats.

Children must complete the activities for all compulsory badges and at least three optional badges in order to achieve the MKT Junior Ranger award. In addition to the six school-based learning sessions and one-day ranger station field trip, the highest-achieving (based on score and effort) children will have the opportunity to attend a Jamboree based on a local conservancy.

We have provided schools with energy saving jikos, built classrooms and assisted installing water harvesting tanks and gutters, setting up school woodlots and providing books and art material. We have also held art competitions.

Our mobile health clinics and door-to-door services for remote communities in Meru, Embu, Kirinyaga and Tharaka-Nithi Counties. Our clinics and community-based distributors provide free family planning, primary health care, HIV testing, counselling and cancer screening to over 1,500 patients per month. This has been especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic when our mobilisers were critical in delivering health care knowledge and advice throughout their rural communities.

2020 List of Donors ORGANIZATIONS

INDIVIDUALS

PARTNERS

African Fund For Endangered Wildlife Minara Foundation BURN Community Health & Sustainable Environment Eden Wildlife Trust Anonymous Elephant Cooperation European Outdoor Conservation Association Friends of Environment Conservation Trust Frigoken International Elephant Foundation International Tree Foundation IUCN Save Our Species Kisima Farm Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Marania Farm Minara Nature Foundation Ol Donyo Farm Timau Rhino Ark Royal African Foundation Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Sukuma Twende Trust Thin Green Line Foundation Timaflor Tree Nation Tusk Trust Wildlife Ranger Challenge & Partners Wildlife Conservation Society The Grasshopper Club

Divyesh Stephen Strong Sumaya Ahmed

Borana Conservancy Marania Farm Kisima Farm Ol Donyo Farm Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Forest Service Ngare Ndare Forest Trust BATUK Everything Altitude Riding Wild Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Billy Norris Safaris Born Free Foundation Travelshoppe Kenyan Riders Rusty Nail Catering Browns food Co. JW Seagon Baiskeli Adventures Cycle East Africa

TROPIC AIR 10TO4 MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE Sponsors Tropic Air Dormans Braeburn Schools Royal African Safaris Bayer East Africa HM Clause Rift Valley Adventures Sunpower Hamptons School Mawingu Wifi Equinox Farm Tropical Heat Express Automation Gras Savoye Tambuzi Farm Sirai House Laragai House Savage Wilderness Life Straw Fairmont Raka Cheese Gundua Seiku Glamping Arijuju Bikeshop Nanuyki Cottage Hospital Safarilink Aquamist Whey to Go

10to4 Special thanks to:

Bimbi Dyer Charlie Dyer Michael Dyer Bryn Llewllyn Wizzy from Everything Altitude Nicky Dyer Olly Keeble Delulu Upson Tom Lawrence

Special thanks to:

Leafy Rous our incredible 10to4 Event Manager.

Jemma Batten for raising funds and giving us weeks of voluntary time to our projects and events..

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Statement of Operations INCOME 82,493,165 KSH (100% donations)

Project Costs 56.76%

Salaries & wages 32.16%

Administration fees 4.55%

Finance costs 0.46%

Statement of Financial Position December 31st, 2020

Depreciation 6.08%

Ksh

Capital Employed Share capital Retained surplus Breakdown

KSh

Project Costs

45,799,206

Depreciation

4,906,225

Finance costs

368,491

Salaries & wages

25,948,339

Administration fees

20,370,054

82,493,165

17,398,301

Represented by: Non-current assets

16,472,466

Current assets

17,178,543

Current liabilities

16,252,708

Net Current Assets/(Liabilities

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160 17,398,141

925,835 17,398,301

Ways to Help We are 100 percent donor funded and rely purely on individual, partners and organizations from Kenya and around the world. Every donation we receive goes to the future and sustainability of Mount Kenya. Every donation we receive goes to the future and sustainability of Mt. Kenya.

There are several ways that you can help; 1. Donate to one of our projects.

- $50 pays for data bundles for our patrol teams for one month - $150 plants 150 trees on Mount Kenya - $200 pays for a digital camera for our patrol teams - $300 pays the salary and rations of our community rangers for a month - $400 pays for the fuel for one of our patrol vehicles for a month - $500 pays for veterinary costs for our horse patrol team for one year - $1,000 pays for a motorbike for our teams - $5,000 a whole ranger team to operate for 3 months 2. Visit our Mount Kenya Trust tree nursery at Turaco Farm, Nanyuki.

3. Sign up for the 10to4 Mountain Bike Challenge (February 2022) 4. Join our mailing list 5. Send contributions to emergency firefighting via M-Pesa Paybill Number: 329142 >account number: “description/purpose of donation” 6. Like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 7. Volunteer your time or expertise by emailing info@mountkenyatrust.org

Events 10to4 MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE The 10to4 Mountain Bike Challenge is a series of races designed for all ages, fitness and abilities that takes place in February every year. We have had more participants from all over the Kenya and the world including East Africa, UK, Europe, Canada, USA, South Africa who take part to raise tens of thousands of dollars.

Go to www.10to4.org for more details. Entries for next year will open in October 2021. Tropic Air has been the Title Sponsor for several years, followed by other local supporters who have been by our side continuously year after year.

MKT offers a range of options to support our mountain conservation work. To learn more, visit our website at www.mountkenyatrust.org E: info@mountkenyatrust.org T: +254 718 235 936 MKT is registered under the UK Charity Commission number 1175321. Contributions may qualify for Gift Aid. Please go to Our Website to support MKT in the UK or contact our UK representative by emailing uk@mountkenyatrust.org

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UK Trustees Peter Gibbon Kailesh Patel Hugh Sloane Jeremy Block Sara Spendrup

info@mountkenyatrust.org www.mountkenyatrust.org / www.10to4.org

Photo credits: KG Brian, World Ranger Challenge, Tom Stafford.

Mount Kenya Trust Board Kenya Directors Jeremy Block Susie Weeks Sophie Kinyua Martin Dyer Tarsam Sembhi General Peter Waweru Bongo Woodley Robert Kariuki